Chapter 1 An Unexpected Development

For a time, the once lively and noisy interior of the bus, filled with chattering voices, was plunged into silence. Even the snoring old man from before now frowned, no longer making a sound, huddled in his seat as if he were dreaming of something terrible.

"Alright, the last batch of 'offerings' is secured."

Having confirmed this, the tour guide, who had been incessantly introducing Shan State's traditional mythology, the legends of the Kachin Snake Valley, and various local tales, stopped his 'chanting' and released the 'hand seal' he had been secretly forming.

Scanning the entire bus, the Shan man with his local yellowish-brown skin, who always had a smile on his face, gradually became expressionless.

"Seizing over thirty offerings at once, the first grand-scale operation in fifty years."

He exhaled and then whispered, "The organization's plan is just one step away from completion, so it doesn't matter if we're discovered—Hey, Maoba, prepare to turn. The rendezvous point is ahead."

"Yes, Master Ge Ang!"

The young driver replied enthusiastically, and soon he turned the steering wheel, causing the entire bus to swerve abruptly, veering off the road and directly into the lush, dense primeval forest!

At the same time, Ge Ang also raised his hand, his ten fingers intertwining bonelessly like snakes, forming an incredibly strange and sacred 'secret seal.' He muttered incantations, emitting sounds very similar to the 'spiritual sounds' that had hypnotized everyone earlier, and his entire hand seal began to glow.

Just as the bus was about to crash into the primeval forest, as Ge Ang completed the seal, faint green light spread out, and layers of shimmering, illusory light began to appear in mid-air. The original scene of the dense forest rippled like water, completely engulfing the entire tour bus, causing it to vanish.

The dense forest in this area was merely an illusion!

With a roar, the bus accelerated, leaping into the illusion, and the wheels no longer touched soft soil but compacted gravel!

This was already a sparsely populated tourist route, and the illusion disguised as a dense forest also contained magical traps that required specific seals to unlock. Passing tourists could not detect it at a glance, and locals rarely walked here, unwilling to venture into the unfamiliar primeval forest, making it even less likely that they would discover this secret.

The bus sped along the gravel road, and even though those who laid the road had made preparations, it still jolted when leaving the highway.

But no matter how bumpy the ride, none of the thirty-five passengers awoke.

Whether old or young, men or women, everyone remained in their seats, frowning, seemingly immersed in an unpleasant dream.

After swallowing the bus, the surface of the dense forest illusion shimmered and quickly returned to normal.

As if nothing had happened.

Leaving the highway, the bus sped through the forest.

Originally, even though the gravel road absorbed a great deal of vibration, the sound would have been enough to startle birds and create a noisy scene.

But now, the surrounding forest was eerily silent.

Not a single bird was to be seen, and even the chirping of insects, which should have been clamorous in summer, was absent. Only the sound of the wind blowing through the trees, bringing a dry, rustling noise, could be heard.

Setting aside these strange occurrences, the bus, filled with unconscious tourists, soon arrived at its destination: a clearing that had been artificially cleared.

Above the clearing were green camouflage tarpaulins painted with tree patterns, used in conjunction with small illusion arrays to conceal the area, presumably to avoid immediate detection by any aerial reconnaissance or satellite scans that were unaffected by the illusion.

In the clearing, the bus slowly came to a stop, and the Shan driver, called Maoba, began to turn the vehicle around to park.

Later, after the reception team came to transport the 'offerings' away, he would have to drive the bus to other parts of the scenic area to divert attention.

Next to the driver, Ge Ang, the high-ranking member of the Shan secret organization, could be seen continuously forming secret seals, causing a faint green light to cover the bus, absorbing sound, suppressing the vitality of the surrounding creatures, and ensuring that the operation would not be discovered due to accidents.

"Suppressing souls and silencing sounds all the way, it's quite draining."

After arriving at the destination, Ge Ang exhaled and released the secret seal.

His expression was somewhat tired, and the green spiritual light on his body flickered, as if it were about to extinguish.

Then, this man, who had previously acted as a tour guide, always smiling and acting like a kind uncle, casually reached out and pressed his hand on the head of a middle-aged man beside him.

Boom! In an instant, the green light blazed, and the man whose head was being held abruptly opened his eyes, his mouth gaping wide, emitting a silent scream—his body still tried to struggle, his hands and feet flailing, but under Ge Ang's suppression, this resistance grew weaker and weaker, until it ceased altogether.

Pop.

The sound of something shattering rang out, and wisps of white, mist-like light could be seen flowing from the man's seven orifices, eventually all converging in Ge Ang's palm, transforming into green spiritual light.

And this man's spirit was completely extinguished. His eyes rolled back, drool trickled from the corners of his mouth, and although his body still had the instinct to breathe, it was nothing more than a living piece of meat.

Ge Ang's gaze was indifferent to this, and his lips even carried a hint of a smile. With a soft snort, he swallowed the spiritual light in one gulp and was once again refreshed, nodding in satisfaction to himself.

"One person's soul is almost enough."

Beside him, Maoba showed no fear at this scene; he even revealed a hint of envy.

For these two members of the mysterious organization, the people on the bus seemed to be nothing more than materials, mere provisions, and not independent, intelligent beings.

"If the organization's plan succeeds, there will be an endless supply of this kind of 'food' in the future."

Feeling his replenished spirit, Ge Ang thought of the organization's ongoing plan and couldn't help but feel a surge of heat and excitement. He began to imagine the beautiful future: "With my secret methods, even becoming the leader of the headquarters is not impossible!"

His heart racing, the high-ranking member of the Shan State's mysterious organization did not have time to continue envisioning more of the beautiful future.

Because a slender, clean, but very strong arm had already reached out from behind him, grabbing his neck with anger.

—Where did this come from?!

On his skin, which had been flushed and sweating from excitement, all the pores immediately closed and contracted in horror. Ge Ang suddenly felt a chill rising from the base of his spine, shooting straight to his forehead.

An incredibly dangerous warning was blaring in his mind—and as his mind moved, his body moved. His right hand directly wriggled to form a seal, and a faint green light appeared. His left hand rose, preparing to strike behind him with his elbow, and his body was also twisting like a snake, trying to break free from this arm.

In an instant, a mental shock like a thunderbolt was born from the seal, heading towards the person behind him!

The secret technique inherited by the organization, a secret art created by mimicking the sound of a wraith, 'Soul Shock—Serpent's Kiss' was enough to instantly cause a healthy adult man to fall unconscious, or even suffer irreparable soul damage!

An unprepared soul taking such a hit would be like a venomous snake injecting a tooth full of corrosive poison into a fingernail! In addition to the excruciating pain, it would also corrode the body and mind!

Ge Ang was certain that even the organization's rare 'Awakened Ones' would have difficulty taking such a blow head-on!

But as the secret art was unleashed, although it hit its target, it did not bring the result that Ge Ang had imagined.

"Crap!?"

A cry of pain came, which made Ge Ang rejoice.

But it was clear that the emotion contained in this pain was more shock and anger than fear—the arm's owner only hesitated for less than half a second, and then continued to constrict and exert force at an even faster rate than before!

He who kills the innocent must be killed!

"Ugh—"

Forcibly exhaling as his neck was tightly gripped by the sturdy arm, in a series of movements as smooth as if they had been practiced, just as Ge Ang was frantically crying 'This is impossible!' in his heart, that arm lightly and powerfully hooked under his chin, the hard muscles bulging!

The power brought by this burst of muscle shattered Ge Ang's last resistance. His breathing was forcibly stopped, causing his eyes to bulge and his tongue to protrude.

And this arm suddenly exerted force upwards, immediately causing the head of this mysterious organization's high-ranking member, disguised as a tour guide, to tilt back, forced to look up, and then, with force from his shoulder and elbow, twisted and wrenched—

Just as he was about to shout, his right hand also transforming into a second seal, Ge Ang's entire body went limp.

—This, this is impossible… I still have seals, secret mantras, and snake venom… I, I still have…

—Where did… this… Awakened… One… come from…